Cultural Differences - Liberal vs Conservative

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You see this picture (can't embed for some reason)?
https://jyllands-posten.dk/pictures/ima ... allery/ulf

That's the Danish Queen congratulating an actor for making a parody... of her.

You don't see this anywhere in non-western cultures. Not that I know of, at least.
In-fact making a parody of a queen or king will most likely put you in jail.

Here, the actor have made a parody for many, many, MANY years of the queen.

It's not illegal here. It's encouraged, and we have a culture here in the West of making fun of state representatives - kings, queens, religious and political leaders as well as our own culture.

A "typical Dane", when portrayed in a Danish satirical paper - is not a Greco-Roman statue with muscles. It's a fat, lazy, beer-drinking middle-aged white male, who cannot possibly look more ugly.

In non-Western cultures, they always portray themselves as heroic figures.

This is why I like to live in the West. It can be described in just one word: Liberty.
This is THE reason the West is superior to any other culture.

Examples:

You CANNOT make fun of or insult any religion in ANY Middle-Eastern or Asian country.
You CAN make fun of and insult ANY religion in most European/North American states.

You CANNOT make fun of or insult the head of state/PM/president in any Middle-Eastern/Asian country. Not in public. Not privately.

You CAN make fun of and insult the Head of State/PM/President in EVERY Western European/North American state - publicly.

That's the difference.

- And this is not just because we allow it. We allow it, because it's part of our socio-cultural DNA.
That's what makes Western Culture superior.

Now, the big question is:

Why don't Asian/Middle-Eastern people not rebel against their own conservative culture, and make it with a more liberal one? Why do most people on Earth want a conservative society?

Last edited by thinkinginpictures on 03 Oct 2021, 2:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.

The problem is the Conservative way of thinking versus the Liberal way of thinking.

It is the Conservative way of thinking that causes totalitarianism, whereas Liberal way of thought wants more... liberty.

Islam, Judaism, Christianity - it's all Conservative ways of thought. So is all religion.
The same can be said about Communism:

Communism = Conservatism = Totalitarianism.

There is only ONE way to obtain True Liberty: To abolish Conservatism.

One factor might be that western societies have an easier time viewing the development of liberalism as an internal thing whereas societies outside of that sphere tend to view liberalism as a foreign influence that will destroy their traditions.

Western reactionaries and non-western reactionaries have a lot in common when it comes to how they respond to liberalism, the only real difference is who they blame it on.

I agree with you.

The problem of Conservatism/Reactionaries is a global issue.

When non-western immigrants (ie. muslims) settle in western societies, and get offended when western culture makes fun of traditions (western as well as non-western), Conservatives always respond by emphasizing our "Christian Heritage", thus developing our Liberal societies into authoritarian ones.

This is exactly what happens in countries like Hungary and Poland.
Theres a growing problem with Conservatism in all western societies.

Trump, Orban etc. are NOT True Western Ideals.
They are the opposite, and that's why we need to put a ban on Conservative political parties, if we value our Liberty.

For what it's worth I'd try to recognize the difference between conservatives who understand that liberalism is part of the traditions they wish to defend and the reactionaries and extreme traditionalists who want to undo the Enlightenment.

Protecting liberty by denying it to people we don’t agree with.

That's how we protect people's liberties: In order to ensure you're not being robbed, the offender will go to prison.

To give liberty, you must also take liberty. To give life, you must take life. That's how this world works.

In related news:

War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength

Exactly.

War IS Peace, when war is fought to ensure peace elsewhere.

Freedom requires someone to be enslaved, to ensure the freedom of others.

The entire universe is a zero-sum game. It is also known as the First Law of Thermodynamics.
You cannot give, if you don't take.

It's a FACT!

Laws of Thermodynamics, Simplified:

• You cannot win.
• You cannot break even.
• You cannot get out of the game.

Conservatism is heavily infused with religion.  It does not matter which religion, as long as it is a religion that does not allow for individual liberties and cultural change.

Unfortunately for Conservatism, advances in science and technology always force changes in culture and allow for individual liberties to be expressed ever more surreptitiously -- even Dear Leader cannot seem to stop everyone from thinking for themselves.

The ends don't justify the means. The means ARE the end, since it's a continual process. That's the contradiction in your perspective.

Society advances when we have a free exchange of ideas, good or bad.

We deny liberty based on peoples actions not their opinions however warped.

Be careful what you wish for. It feels safe to deny others whose opinions you find dangerous. That protection may be fleeting. Times change and it might be your opinion that is seen as dangerous and is banned based on the precedent you favor.

today's righties here in ammuuurica don't seem to have as a philosophy, any form of the golden rule, but more like the iron rule [IOW the brutish rule of might makes right or "just try to stop me."]

so... that great achievement of Western country... Liberalism - or just Nihilism?
Acrually, not nihilism, there are important things in the West. Money, for example.

You can make fun of anything and anyone, because none of it matters. All that is sacred is being profaned, to quote some early anti-capitalist pamphlet.

The only way to prevent my opinions from being banned, is to ban the opposite.

Not really, the opposite of your views isn't banned right now and yet your views are perfectly acceptable to express even if most people reject them.